Hi Molly. As someone who grew up loving Cocteau Twins as a teenager in the 80s, watching you discover the joy of their music put a huge smile on my face.
Agree with every word. Been a fan since I first heard them in my best friend's bedroom back in '85 when I was 16. Their music re-wired my brain for the better.
Me too. I first heard them as a young teen in 1984. Still one of my favorite bands. Great reaction vid. Nice to see someone who doesn’t necessarily have a lot of preconceived ideas about the Cocteaus respond.
Hearing Cocteau Twins Heaven or Las Vegas for the first time was the most profound musical experience I've had. An old friend would lend me random CD's from his older brother, some I liked, some not so much. So I sit down on my own and listen to this on my own with headphones. The emotional response was so intense it felt like when you are falling in love with someone.
I love hearing a young persons take on of the most influential bands of this era. If she works listen to their catalog in chronological order, it would blow her mind
Impossible to choose a favourite CT album , but true: "Blue Bell Knoll" is definitely one of the most impressive, at least vocally🤩🤩🤩. "Victorialand" is unique too and so beautiful but "Heaven or Las Vegas" might be my favourite one for some reason... I need to listen to it a lot when I feel I'm really in love with someone. I think it describes exactly all the different layers of emotions you go through when discovering your own feelings at the very beginning. It became a sort of test to know if I'm really in love as I react with much more intensity while listening to it...😄😍
Blue Bell Knoll is one of my favourite albums. First time I heard The Itchy Glowbo Blow I knew it would hold a special place for the rest of my life, and it has. Another album I love but feel is underappreciated is Four Calendar Café.
Seriously, im 52 now, discovered them around "93, barely a day has gone by that I haven't listened to them, 30+ years on, their music never gets old...
Garlands, head over heels, treasure, victorialand, blue bell knoll and heaven or las vegas.. these early albums is a step apart from the one before. garlands is dark and sparse bleak feel to it then they get more fuller and more human while still having a haunting quality. they really do explore the guitar vocal symbiosis on each album. victorialand is laid back gentler style while bluebell knoll is happier warmer but still a ghost in the works feel, treasure is edgier brittle yet delightful, they have this way of combining mixed feelings emotions landscape of sound that is hard to tie down but if it gets in it's... so good..( PS please try out their EPs they are really rewarding to listen to... love's easy tears,tiny dynamine, echoes in a shallow bay, sunburst and snowblind, aikea guinea there are others too but give them a try).. good luck and thanks for posting, great stuff.
I know Elizabeth Fraser's sister! I also occasionally message Simon Raymonde too and know one of the founders Will Heggie! they have all signed various vinyl etc for me.. HUGE Cocteau Twins fan here! C 09 - 08 - 23
If you want a colder, darker vibe check out their debut Garlands. Quite a different album from the blissed out hazy warmth that followed but still excellent!
I heard a b-side in a documentary called Tarnation back in 2004 that gave me all those goosebumps you're getting. Cocteau Twins is Scottish, so yes there's an accent, but also the singer supposedly would just vocalize half the time. Just make sounds that would work for the emotion. Last time I heard this album was when I went to see Caroline Polachek live and the venue decided to play the whole thing before the show.
Have you listened to 'Disintegration' by The Cure? If not, that would be my recommendation because 'Heaven or Las Vegas' and 'Disintegration' were THE two "Mood-albums" to me when I was younger.
Cocteau Twins made such ethereal pop music...love it!! Since you enjoyed this I must recommend Dead Can Dance. One of my absolute favorite bands who add a tribal rhythmic element to this ethereal style. The Serpent's Egg is a masterpiece. Thanks for bringing back some great memories with this and your Ministry review. Cheers
I'm so excited to see someone discovering them...they're absolutely my whole world and youre right they create atmospheres that you never want to leave. Mostly, Liz never sang real words and her voice was also a vibe.
Cocteau Twins are amazing, love them! Liz Fraser is positively not of this earth. Pure magic! Definitely try Stereolab, I think they might be up your alley as well. Emperor Tomato Ketchup is a good place to start (or Dots and Loops). Love your reactions btw!👍
They really are such an amazing band, I'm so glad I've finally heard some of their music. Thanks for the further suggestions, I'll have to check them out :)
Since you're moving this direction, definitely check out Jeff Buckley's "Grace" -- he cites Elizabeth Frazier as a huge influence (and they dated!) but more, he's quite possibly the most angelic singer I've ever heard. He also shreds on guitar. Also, on the note of the words she's choosing: She has stated in interviews, that her lyrics were far more influenced by what sounded right for the song, than by meaning. She occasionally made words up for the syllabic rhythm and tone.
Love to see you react to this epic dreampop LP. My favorite Cocteau LP is 'Blue Bell Knoll', its the LP that preceded Heaven, and a bit darker. The main song on that LP is 'Carolyn's Fingers', which for me, is their best song!
This is absolutely one of my top 5 records. It feels very generous and warm. It's just wall-to-wall bangers, and it makes me feel like I'm floating on clouds. I've seen some of the lyrics and while they don't really make literal sense much of the time, they center all around images of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. EDIT TO ADD: To me, this is the sound of when your dentist gives you pain pills and they are a lot stronger than you anticipated
Liz had a baby during this album while her husband Robbie was suffering from the loss of his father. So, Agony and ecstacy at the same time. God have mercy. I got to meet both of them in Atlanta on this tour. The concert had eight ovations!
Hey Molly, similar to what Karl said, as a teen I grew up listening to the Cocteau Twins around 1983, and it's an absolute joy to hear you discovering one of their finest records - it literally made me hear the songs again with fresh ears - thank you so much for sharing your listening experience and thoughtful responses - moved me greatly!
Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the reaction! This album was absolutely breathtaking, such a beautifully unique sound. So glad I finally gave it a listen.
This is probably my favorite album from start to finish and the reflexions it produces in me when i hear it are unique. It was really pleasant seeing this video and your reactions about every song were put in perfect words. Nice sensitivity and emotional description.
This is my fav Cocteau twins reaction i come back monthly to experience ur reaction again it’s so reminiscent to what I experienced listening for the first time. Thank you for articulating my feelings when I first discovered them!!!
Wow, thanks! So glad that you enjoyed my reaction. This band is incredible, I loved every second of this beautiful album. I'll definitely have to give some more of their music a listen, it's so unique.
Elizabeth Fraser is an amazing vocalist. Her work on This Mortal Coil "song to the siren" is so haunting. Coctau Twins began in the 80s and are considered founders of the dream pop ambient sound . This I'd the old magic .
For decades I had no love for that particular song. After many decades of absolutely adoring Elizabeth Fraser, I heard TMC’s version of ‘Another Day’ ~only recently. Somehow, ‘Another Day’ just resonated with me so honestly that through association I began listening to ‘Song to the Siren’. I can understand why people enjoy it more than ‘Another Day’ but I have to admit that my love for AD is what brought me back to listening to TMC. Cocteau Twins are my lifelong favorite band and I suggest to anyone to explore their discography in full. 💝
Getting to watch you discover my all time favorite band is the closest thing to getting to hear them again for the first time. I smiled the whole video. Great work :)
Great job, Molly. I’ve been a Cocteau Twins fanatic since their beginning and I really enjoyed seeing you discover them and hearing your genuine observations. I will watch more of your videos!
There was a piece they recorded exclusively for the soundtrack to the 1995 film, Judge Dredd (of all things). You won't find it on any of their albums. It's one of my favorite things they've ever done: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nVkkYWv9U6A.html P.S. Despite the film itself, the entire soundtrack is actually surprisingly good. It includes the score by Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, The Avengers, Forrest Gump, etc.) which is amazing, in my opinion.
Cocteau Twins are my all-time favorite band, and during 2 tours and a bunch of shows in different cities, I got to know them. They were really nice ordinary people. They were the band that influenced the genre called Dream Pop. Every album they ever put out was great. Believe it or not, they started out as a Gothic band (check their 1st release called Garlands). Elizabeth Fraser and the guitarist, Robin Guthrie (who to me was the brains and the producer of the group) are both Scottish and were at one time married to each other. Heaven Or Las Vegas came out the same year of their daughter's birth, and some of the song lyrics are about her. Her name is Lucy Belle Guthrie. They even named a record label they started after her. It's called Bella Union. Elizabeth Fraser is actually singing in a form of beautifully mutated English. People for years wondered if it was a foreign language, but almost all of it was in English, some of it being old English. The only other vocalist that I know of who did this kind of thing was the vocalist of a band that Cocteau Twins had a hand in getting signed to their 1st (and best) label 4AD, and that person's name is Lisa Garrard, of the group, Dead Can Dance. The only difference is that Lisa Garrard sings in her own made-up language, which she says is akin to when babies are 1st trying to sing. It's usually nonsense, and that's what she took to heart. I'm absolutely sure that she went down this road because of the way Elizabeth Fraser started. Both bands were started in the early 80's.
Cocteau Twins are one of my top 5 bands of all time, and IMHO this album is their highest achievement. I had the pleasure of seeing them at the Warfield in SF. What a show. Just magical.
Have you ever listened to a full album by The Cure? I was remembering the story that Robert Smith put a Cocteau Twins album to play on his wedding and it made me think “that would be a great mash”.
Well done Molly for introducing the Cocteau Twins to a new and probably wider audience. In our day, early 80s, they were kind of an enigmatic underground “alternative” band who few had really heard except on John Peel in UK, or college radio in US. If they were founded today, they’d be likely more widely known I think.
Everything from them is amazing, definitely my favorite band (out of a lot). I like their last four albums (including this one) the most. Btw, the singer, Elizabeth Frazer, uses all kinds of non-existing words and abstract phrases. It's all about sound. Other great dreampop bands from that era are Lush and The Sundays. You might also like the sadcore/slowcore genre from the early nineties with bands like The Red House Painters, Slowdive and Low.
Someone else in the comments mentioned her unique use of vocals as well. I kinda love how random it is, a sort of collection of words that simply sound good strung together. Really goes to show how music can transcend words when it comes to having an emotional impact, because despite how random the lyrics are across this album I found it very emotionally evocative. And thanks for the further suggestions, I will have to check them out!
Your Instagram stories got me SO hyped for this reaction, and here it is! This dream pop masterpiece never fails to bring tears to my eyes, that's the power of Elizabeth Fraser's vocals ahahahah I'm so glad you decided to listen to Heaven Or Las Vegas and I agree with basically everything you said in the video, this album is pure perfection! The comparison you made with My Bloody Valentine is actually on point, shoegaze and dream pop are two very close genres and often blend into each other (try giving another listen to the song "Blown A Wish" from Loveless now that you've heard Cocteau Twins, it's basically the same sound). Regarding the lyrics, they're actually written in English but Fraser's pronounciation is purposefully exaggerated to make them difficult to grasp: this is more evident on other Cocteau Twins albums (Treasure, the third one, is a good example of this), which you should absolutely check out because they're just as great!
If you haven’t yet, you need to go listen to Sun’s Signature. Elizabeth Frazier does the vocals. Absolutely incredible. She is, if not the, one of the best vocalists of our time.
Knew you would like this band. I was someone recommending them a lot. Great job with the reaction, you have a talent for this, one of my favorite reaction channels. Here’s another suggestion, Dead Can Dance - Anastasis.
I'm so glad you chose to review this album. I discovered it a while back, and it's truly a masterpiece. To answer your question as to why the vocals sound heavily accented at points, I think that's simply because the singer, Elizabeth Fraser, is Scottish. Also, I have an album recommendation. You should check out Power, Corruption, and Lies by New Order. I think you'd really enjoy it.
Your reaction is flawlessly accurate and expressively superb, nearly the exact experience I had many years ago. Love your thoughts on one of my favorite bands of all time. Thank you!
Might want to check out the Innocence Mission debut album (1989) I couldn’t think of many bands with a similar sound. but the Innocence Mission has some similarities.
Well, I'd go with Treasure next, but if you like the syrupy side of Heaven or Las Vegas, then Four Calendar Cafe is the logical follow up. They have several EPs which are excellent, and would be good for a shorter segment. I'd recommend Love's Easy Tears, or Aikea-Guinea.
I’m so happy you finally listened to Cocteau Twins. One of my favorite bands. Another band that you should eventually check out is Slowdive. Cheers Molly!
This album is perfect! Also, would love to see you react to some Black Gaze albums from artists like Alcest and/or Sylvaine Oh, and also, Our Time in Eden by 10.000 Maniacs. A fantastic 90s alt rock album.
@@mollyesanborn FYI they released it under the name of This Mortal Coil umbrella but it is Elizabeth Fraser & Robin Guthrie from the Cocteau Twins. By the way I love your reactions
Such a wonderful album! I think my introduction to Cocteau Twins (apart from hearing Elizabeth Fraser's vocals on Massive Attack's Mezzanine) was the song Pitch the Baby which intrigued me enough to make me listen to the rest of the album as well. Some of my personal Cocteau Twins favourites are the Victorialand album, the compilation album The Pink Opaque and the song Pink Orange Red (the lyrics of which are a list of Latin butterfly names).
I Wear Your Ring is a top ten shoegaze track! I love this album to death, and my personal favorite from the Twins. From Mr Bungle to Deafheaven, I’ve been reliving some of the most important music in my life through this channel. Whoever is feeding you the recommendations is killing it.
Funny to hear you're mentionning My Bloody V., since Kevin MBV and Robin CT are actually good friends (and guitar gear freaks). Check Mazzy Star ("so tonight...) who opened for the CT decades ago.
Hi young lady, glad to see you are listening nowaday to the voice of angel we experienced in our youth. Because for sure Elizabeth Frazer is not human. An interstellar sound. Nothing compares to this.
It was so much fun watching your reaction to one of my favorite albums. If you like Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, you might check out one of the more obscure bands of the era, Curve. I'd love to watch your first time listening to their debut album, Doppelgänger.
This album and my bloody valentine's loveless sound like falling in love. The way that I perceive the album is that the main character starts to have feelings of deep love and trust for someone that they have gotten to know for some time. The opening track, Cherry-Coloured Funk, is the beginning of these feelings (almost like a butterflies in the stomach type thing). By the time Iceblink Luck comes around, the main character only wants the best and basically wants to throw out any circumstances that are negative or lead to bad luck (this song reminds me of The Cure's Doing The Unstuck). When we get to Heaven Or Las Vegas and Fotzepolitic, the main character at both of these points during the album grows a strong connection with the other character to the point where it feels like Heaven and is absolutely peaceful and heartwarming when both characters are together, but at the same time during some days, the main character wonders if what they are experiencing together is "too good to be true" which could apply to the title track and the title of the album. Finally, during Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires, the main character could be leaving this person that they have made a connection with due to some unusual circumstances, and it is a cry for hope that they will both see each other again someday. loveless could be implementing similar feelings that this album has, but applies more to feelings of "nostalgic love" rather than realistic feelings of love (which could be implemented into any kind of "ship" (even a really close friendship or relationship that doesn't have any sexual or romantic implication)).
Squeeze-Wax by Cocteau Twins always gives me goosebumps, always chokes me up. I think they're so good at creating these ethereal experiences, to me they're an amazing teleport to fantasy.
